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How to keep bees for profit/Chapter 17
CHAPTER XVII HONEY AS A FOOD AND MEDICINE HONEY is being more and more recognized as a necessity and not as formerly a luxury, and could its food and healthgiving qualities be better known, it would appear more often on the bill of fare than it does. In looking over the various dictionaries 1 fail to find a correct scientific definition of the constituents of honey, and only succeeded in finding the following definition in Phin's Dictionary of Beekeeping : "Honey contains four different kinds of sugar: (1) Cane sugar (though this is not always present); (2) fruit sugar or glucose; (3) invert sugar, so-called because it turns the plane of polarization to the left, or inverts the action of the fruit sugar; (4) a sugar of which little is known, but which is evidently a distinct variety. " Under the peculiar action of the ferment (enzyme) previously mentioned, and which is generally present, the cane sugar gradually changes to sugar of the second and third kinds ; and as these are less soluble than cane sugar, the clear limpid fluid gradually becomes opaque and granular, or in other words the honey is said to granulate." However vague the above description may be, honey in the public mind means nectar secreted by the flowers of the field and gathered by the bees and thoroughly ripened in the hive. Honey will vary in its color and flavor according to the source from which it was gathered, the clover being mild in flavor while that from buckwheat is pronounced. Notwithstanding this variation in color and flavor, the food value of all honey is practically the same, the particular flavor desired being largely a matter of choice. Before the passage of the Hepburn Pure Food Law in America on June 30, 1906, a great deal of adulterated honey was sold to the public, but since the passage of the above law, the public is reasonably certain of getting pure honey. HONEY AS FOOD The American nation consumes an enormous amount of sugar, averaging nearly eighty pounds per head, and the people of the British Isles ten pounds more. The increased consumption of sugar during the last few years has been phenomenal, and even people in moderate circumstances consume a large amount. Honey sells in some states for very little more than good cane sugar. Honey is much superior to sugar in several respects. It has far more flavor and aroma, and for baking certain fancy cakes it has no equal; and for this reason will always command a higher price than sugar. We know fastidious people are always willing to pay high prices for foods having fine flavors, and all physiologists are agreed that flavor has much to do with the dietetic value of a food by inducing a free flow of saliva and promoting digestion by its palatability. Honey is an excellent food in the prevention of fatigue, owing to the fact that, while it builds up the body, or rather makes up for the loss of tissue, it does not tax the system. The latter is not called upon to throw off or get rid of a mass of perfectly useless material, for it is undoubtedly true that not more than one two-hundredth part of honey is actual waste. Practically the human system uses up almost every particle of honey placed in the stomach. This can be said of no other food except sugar, which must undergo a process of inversion before the system can utilize it. Honey, on the other hand, is in a state of partial digestion before being eaten; and this, in addition to the very free flow of saliva induced by the flavor, causes it to be completely used up by the digestive system without straining it in the least so much so, in fact, that many invalids and infants may use honey when sugar would be prejudicial. Honey, it is believed, after passing through the stomach, becomes glycogen by the action of the liver, and in this way is converted into heat and work. It differs from sugar in two important particulars. First, it does not require to be "inverted," or converted into natural glucose (it is that already), a process which frequently leads to diabetes, and, again, it possesses an aroma and flavor which sugar does not. Moreover, it does not contain powerful chemicals, as sugar sometimes does. It is a purely natural production, and requires no cooking or preparation. There is almost an infinite variety of flavors in honey, so that the peculiar palate of every one may be suited. In dealing with children and delicate people this is important. In countries where the consumption of sugar is large, as in the United States, Canada, and the British Islands, Germany, Holland, and other northern lands, diabetes is quite common. This is due to the fact that the system of those afflicted is so constituted that they are unable to convert ordinary sugar into glucose. There is always a certain number of such people in every community. Diabetes bears considerable resemblance to Bright's disease of the kidneys, which is, however, due to an excess of albumen not sugar. Children generally crave something sweet, and this is a perfectly healthy and natural longing which ought to be satisfied in some way. This is generally done by giving confectionery and sweetmeats, which frequently are indigestible Honey can be made to take their place with many children if it is allowed in the regular dietary. In this way the craving for sweets is very effectively met. In France and other parts of Europe the doctors recommend honey and cream, or honey and butter, in the treatment of consumptively inclined children. They say this combination is better than cod-liver-oil emulsion, for the reason that it is much more palatable, and more satisfactory to the patient's stomach. A fine combination for fast-growing thin children is bread, butter, and honey. In this country any mother may try this bill of fare on her well-beloved children. She may feel certain that no better menu for a child can be suggested. Honey may be very effectively used in summer drinks, and should take the precedence of sugar in this respect, more particularly where workmen are employed in hot and fatiguing work such as takes place in glass and iron factories. Immense quantities of honey are used by bakers, both in America and Europe. In this country alone the National Biscuit Company uses an amount which seems staggering to a man unacquainted with the industry. This concern recently purchased in one lot seventy carloads of good honey, and is always in the market for honey in big lots. There are no means of knowing just how much honey the baking industry uses in this country; but we do know it is very large indeed. The best bakers have discovered that honey is far superior to sugar as a sweetening agent. The latter causes the cakes and bread made with it to dry up and become unpalatable in a few days ; whereas honey, on the other hand, causes them to remain sweet and moist for a long period. Cases are reported of honey-jumbles remaining moist for twelve years; and in France nobody thinks it is anything very wonderful to keep honey-bread a year or eighteen months, and yet have it remain perfectly good and satisfactory. If it is hard, it is simply put into a damp place for a few days, when it returns to its original condition. It is perfectly clear that, where bread and cakes are made in factories, they must have some "keeping" qualities; and by experience the managers have found honey is the only acceptable agent for this purpose. At Dijon, in France, from time immemorial a kind of honey-bread (pain d'epice, or Lebkuchen, as the Germans call it) has been made which has acquired a wide fame. It is made in other parts of Europe, but this place seems to excel in its production. The bakers there are fastidious, and cannot be induced to use any but buckwheat honey. They say they cannot risk their reputation by using any other. The honey is obtained in Brittany; and when it is used up the bakers will stop baking rather than use a substitute. Honey-bread is now made and sold in New York, and what we have used of it here in Medina proved to be very fine eating indeed. The general opinion of it is, it would be very acceptable to dyspeptics or persons of impaired digestion, as it is very open and porous, and easily masticated. Honey-cakes and jumbles have been consumed in steadily increasing quantities of late years, and the demand increases by leaps and bounds, showing that consumers appreciate a really delicious and satisfactory food, no matter if it seems somewhat higher priced than similar foods. A considerable amount of honey has also been used in confectionery. This demand is increasing; and in this connection beeswax is also used to some extent. The beeswax is used in about the same proportions that wre find it in a piece of comb honey, and some actually buy comb honey for making confectionery. Honey-candies coated with chocolate are much consumed in Europe. Honey is largely used as a medicine and as a vehicle for administering nauseous medicines. It is so soothing in its action that it is used effectively for many purposes in the sickroom. In continental Europe the doctors constantly recommend and use honey. For some unexplained reason our medical men are not so favorable to honey as their European confreres, possibly because they are afraid of its adulteration. Since the passage of the national pure-food law there need be but little fear of this, and it may be freely recommended. Honey has an excellent effect on the skin, and for this reason is much used in soaps and similar preparations sought by ladies for softening the cuticle and improving the complexion. Salves are also improved by the use of honey and beeswax; in fact, the latter is considered the only proper substance for forming the base of ordinary salves. Very many of the so-called honey cooking recipes are untested, and hence worse than none; for when the ingredients are put together and cooked the result is vile. The recipes given below have been tested, and every one is guaranteed to be good. The honey-jumble recipe, for instance, is especially good, as is the honey-cake recipe by Maria Fraser. HONEY COOKING RECIPES HONEY-GEMS. 2 qts. flour, 3 tablespoonfuls melted lard, f pt. honey, ^ pt. molasses, 4 heaping tablespoonfuls brown sugar, 1| level tablespoonfuls soda, 1 level teaspoonful salt, | pt. water, | teaspoonful extract vanilla,, HONEY-JUMBLES. 2 qts. flour, 3 tablespoonfuls melted lard, 1 pt. honey, J pt. molasses, 1 J level tablespoonfuls soda, 1 level teaspoonful salt, \ pt. water, | teaspoonful vanilla. These jumbles and the gems immediately preceding arc from recipes used by bakeries and confectioneries on a large scale, one firm in Wisconsin alone using ten tons of honey annually in their manufacture. HONEY-CAKE OR COOKIES without sugar or molasses. 2 cups honey ; one cup butter ; four eggs (mix well) ; one cup buttermilk (mix) ; one good qt. flour ; one level teaspoonful soda or saleratus. If it is too thin, stir in a little more flour. If too thin it will fall. It does not need to be as thin as sugar-cake. I use very thick honey. Be sure to use the same cup for measure. Be sure to mix the honey, butter, and eggs well together. You can make it richer if you wish by using clabbered cream instead of buttermilk. Bake in a rather slow oven, as it burns very easily. To make cookies, use a little more flour, so that they will roll out well without sticking to the board. Any kind of flavoring will do. I use ground orange-peel mixed soft. It makes a very nice gingerbread. Maria Fraser. HOWELL HONEY-CAKE. (It is a hard cake.) Take 6 Ibs. flour, 3 Ibs. honey, Ij Ibs. sugar, lj Ibs. butter, 6 eggs, J oz. saleratus ; ginger to your taste. Directions for mixing. Have the flour in a pan or tray. Pack a cavity in the centre. Beat the honey and yolks of eggs together well. Beat the butter and sugar to cream, and put into the cavity in the flour ; then add the honey and yolks of the eggs. Mix well with the hand, adding a little at a time, during the mixing, the J oz saleratus dissolved in boiling water until it is all in. Add the ginger, and finally add the whites of the 6 eggs, well beaten. Mix well with the hand to a smooth dough. Divide the dough into 7 equal parts, and roll out like gingerbread. Bake in ordinary square pans made for pies, from 10 X 14 tin. After putting into the pans, mark off the top in J-inch strips with something sharp. Bake an hour in a moderate oven. Be careful not to burn, but bake well. Dissolve sugar to glaze over top of cake. To keep the cake, stand on end in an oak tub, tin can, or stone crock crock is best. Stand the cards up so the flat sides will not touch each other. Cover tight. Keep in a cool dry place. Don't use until three months old at least. The cake improves with age, and will keep good as long as you will let it. I find any cake sweetened with honey does not dry out like sugar or molasses cake, and age improves or develops the honey flavor. E. D. HowelL AIKIN'S HONEY-COOKIES. 1 teacupful extracted honey, 1 pt. sour cream, scant teaspoonful soda, flavoring if desired, flour to make a soft dough. SOFT HONEY-CAKE. 1 cup butter, 2 cups honey, 2 eggs, 1 cup sour milk, 2 teaspoonfuls soda, 1 teaspoonful ginger, 1 teaspoonful cinnamon, 4 cups flour. Chalon Fowls. GINGER HONEY-CAKE. 1 cup honey, J cup butter, or drippings, 1 tablespoonful boiled cider, in half a cup of hot water (or \ cup sour milk will do instead). Warm these ingredients together, and then add 1 tablespoonful ginger And 1 teaspoonful soda sifted in with flour enough to make a soft batter. Bake in a flat pan. Chalon Fowls. FOWLS' HONEY FRUIT-CAKE. J cup butter, } cup honey, <| cup apple jelly or boiled cider, 2 eggs well beaten, 1 tea- Spoonful soda, 1 teaspoonful each of cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg, 1 teacupful each of raisins and dried currants. Warm the butter, honey, and apple jelly slightly, add the beaten eggs, then the soda dissolved in a little warm water ; add spices and flour enough to make a stiff batter, then stir in the fruit and bake in a slow oven. Keep in a covered jar several weeks before using. MUTH'S HONEY-CAKES. 1 gal. honey (dark honey is best), 15 eggs, 3 Ibs. sugar (a little more honey in its place may be better), Ij oz. baking-soda, 2 oz. ammonia, 2 Ibs. almonds chopped up, 2 Ibs. citron, 4 oz. cinnamon, 2 oz. cloves, 2 oz. mace, 18 Ibs. flour. Let the honey come almost to a boil; then let it cool off, and add the other ingredients. Cut out and bake. The cakes are to be frosted afterward with sugar and white of eggs. FOWLS' HONEY LAYER-CAKE. cup butter, 1 cup honey, 3 eggs beaten, J cup milk. Cream the honey and butter together, then add the eggs and milk. Then add 2 cups flour containing Ij teaspoonfuls baking-powder previously stirred in. Then stir in flour to make a stiff batter. Bake in jelly-tins. When the cakes are cold, take finely flavored candied honey, and after creaming it spread between layers, FOWLS' HONEY-COOKIES. 3 teaspoonfuls soda dissolved in 2 cups warm honey, 1 cup shortening containing salt, 2 teaspoonfuls ginger, 1 cup hot water, flour sufficient to roll. HONEY NUT-CAKES. 8 cups sugar, 2 cups honey, 4 cups milk or water, 1 Ib. almonds, 1 Ib. English walnuts, 3 cents' worth each of candied lemon and orange peel, 5 cents' worth citron (the last three cut fine), 2 large tablespoonfuls soda, 2 teaspoonfuls cinnamon, 2 teaspoonfuls ground cloves. Put the milk, sugar, and honey on the stove, to boil 15 minutes; skim off the scum, and take from the stove. Put in the nuts, spices, and candied fruit. Stir in as much flour as can be done without making the dough too stiff. Set away to cool, then mix in the soda. Cover up and let stand over night, then work in flour enough to make a stiff dough. Bake when you get ready. It is well to let it stand a few days, as it will not stick so badly. Roll out a little thicker than a common cooky ; cut in any shape you like. This recipe originated in Germany, is old and tried, and the cake will keep a year or more. Mrs. E. Smith. HONEY DROP-CAKES. 1 cup honey, } cup sugar, J cup butter or lard, | cup sour milk, 1 egg, J tablespoonful soda, 4 cups sifted flour. HONEY SHORTCAKE. 3 cups flour, 2 teaspoonfuls baking- powder, 1 teaspoonful salt, | cup shortening, 1| cups sweet milk. Roll quickly, and bake in a hot oven. When done, split the cake and spread the lower half thinly with butter, and the upper half with J Ib. of the best-flavored honey. (Candied honey is preferred. If too hard to spread well it should be slightly warmed or creamed with a knife.) Let it stand a few minutes, and the honey will melt gradually and the flavor will permeate all through the cake. To be eaten with milk. HONEY TEA-CAKE. 1 cup honey, \ cup sour cream, 2 eggs, \ cup butter, 2 cups flour, scant J teaspoonful soda, 1 tablespoonful cream of tartar. Bake thirty minutes in a moderate oven. Miss M. Candler. HONEY GINGERSNAPS. 1 pt. honey, f Ib. butter, 2 teaspoonfuls ginger. Boil together a few minutes, and when nearly cold put in flour until it is stiff. Roll out thin, and bake quickly. HONEY FRUIT-CAKE. 1 J cups honey, f cup butter, J cup sweet milk, 2 eggs well beaten, 3 cups flour, 2 teaspoonfuls baking-powder, 2 cups raisins, 1 teaspoonful each of cloves and cinnamon. HONEY POPCORN-BALLS. Take 1 pt. extracted honey; put it into an iron frying-pan, and boil until very thick ; then stir in freshly popped corn, and when cold, mold into balls. These will specially delight the children. HONEY-CARAMELS. 1 cup extracted honey of best flavor. 1 cup granulated sugar, 3 tablespoonfuls sweet cream or milk Boil to "soft crack," or until it hardens when dropped into cold water, but not too brittle just so it will form into a soft ball when taken in the fingers. Pour into a greased dish, stirring in a teaspoonful extract of vanilla just before taking off. Let it be J or J inch deep in the dish; and as it cools cut in squares and wrap each square in paraffin paper, such as grocers wrap butter in. To make chocolate caramels, add to the foregoing 1 tablespoonful melted chocolate, just before taking off the stove, stirring it in well. For chocolate caramels it is not so important that the honey be of best quality. C. C. Miller. HONEY APPLE-BUTTER. 1 gal. good cooking apples, 1 qt. honey, 1 qt. honey vinegar, 1 heaping teaspoonful ground cinnamon. Cook several hours, stirring often to prevent burning. If the vinegar is very strong, use part water. Mrs. R. C. Aikin. HONEY AND TAR COUGH-CURE. Put 1 tablespoonful liquid tar into a shallow tin dish and place it in boiling water until the tar is hot. To this add a pint of extracted honey and stir well for half an hour, adding to it a level teaspoonful pulverized borax. Keep well corked in a bottle. Dose, teaspoonful every one, two, or three hours, according to severity of cough. SUMMER HONEY-DRINK. 1 spoonful fruit juice and 1 spoonful honey in \ glass water ; stir in as much soda as will Ke on a silver dime, and then stir in half as much tartaric acid, and drink at once. HONEY CEREAL COFFEE. Fresh wheat bran, 5 Ibs.; mix with 2 Ibs. of rye flour 2 Ibs. of alfalfa honey. Mix the honey with 3 pts. of boiling water. After the honey and tvater have come to a boil, pour into the bran mixture. Stir thoroughly, and knead to a very stiff dough. Put them through a domestic meat-grinder to separate them. Dry in a warm oven. Brown the same as coffee. For a coffee flavor, add 2 Ibs. best Mocha and Java. Have it all ground and put in air-tigM cans for future use. W. L. Porter. HONEY-TAFFY. Boil extracted honey until it hardens in cold water. Pull until white. Any quantity may be used. One pound requires about twenty minutes' steady boiling. Mary C. Porter. DYSPEPSIA REMEDY. Dr. McLean, San Francisco, California, recommends this for the cure of dyspepsia. Mix a drink of honey and water to suit the taste, then add a small quantity of myrrh (just a few drops) , and drink every morning on rising. HONEY-PASTE TO PUT LABELS ON TIN. Take two spoonfuls of wheat flour and one of honey. Mix the flour and honey, and add boiling water to make i"; the rr'ght thickness. This is fine for labels or wall paper where pa^r wi1 ! not .ick with ordinary paste. W, L, Porter, FOREIGN HONEY RECIPES ALSATIAN GINGERBREAD. 1 Ib. honey, 1 Ib. flour, ginger to suit, 2J drams bicarbonate soda. The honey is first brought to a boil, preferably in a double boiler. It is then removed from the fire, and the flour well stirred into it, and then the soda (or baking-powder) ; bake. If sweet gingerbread is wanted, add the white of an egg, well whipped, and more honey. The above will keep well for a year if kept in a cellar. Swiss COOKIES. Prepare some dough as for the gingerbread, and mix with it J Ib. crushed almonds, orange and lemon juice, and cinnamon ; and, if desired, cloves to suit the taste. HONEY FRUIT-CAKES. 4 eggs, 5 teacups flour, 2 teacups honey, 1 teacup butter, 1 teacup sweet milk, 3 tea^poonfuls baking-powder, 1 Ib. raisins, 1 Ib. currants, 1 teaspoonful cloves, 1 teaspoonful cinnamon, 1 teaspoonful nutmeg. Then bake in slow oven. The above will keep moist for months. HONEY BROWN BREAD. 1 cup corn meal, 1 cup rye meal, 1 cup sour milk, \ (or less) cup honey, 1 teaspoonful salt, 1 teaspoonful soda. Steam 4 hours, then dry in the oven 15 minutes. This bread should be kept in an air-tight box, where it will keep fresh for a long time. FRENCH HONEY-MUFFINS. 1J pts. flour, 1 cup honey. \ teespoonful salt, two teaspoorifuls baking-powder, 2 tablespoonfuls butter, 3 eggs, and a little over half a pint of milk or thin cream. Sift together the flour, salt, and powder; rub in the butter cold; add beaten eggs, milk, and honey. Mix smoothly in batter as for pound cake ; about half fill spongecake tins, cold and fully greased, and bake bread in good steady oven for eight minutes. REMEDY FOR CONSTIPATION. Dr. Vogel, of the University of Dorpat, one of the greatest authorities on the subject of children's diseases, recommends giving the juice of well-stewed prunes, sweetened with honey, to very small children, instead of castor oil or other remedies. This is also a remedy which can be used by adults with good results. Try it. HONEY-TAFFY. Boil honey until it hardens when dropped into cold water. Pull until it becomes white. Any quantity may be used. A pound requires 20 minutes' boiling and stirring. Great care must be exercised not to burn the honey. It makes very fine taffy. HONEY-DROPS. Blend J cup honey, 1 teaspoonful butter, 1 egg well beaten, f cup flour, sifted with half a teaspoonful of baking-powder and a pinch of salt. Drop by teaspoonfuls on a tin, and bake in a quick oven. These proportions will make about 20 cakes. PICKLED GRAPES IN HONEY. 7 Ibs. good grapes (wine grapes if possible). The stalks must be left, and carefully packed in a jar without bruising any of them. Make a syrup of 4 Ibs. of honey, a pint of good vinegar with cloves, etc., to suit the taste. Then boil the syrup, carefully skimming it, for 20 minutes. While boiling hot, pour the syrup over the grapes and seal up. This will keep perfectly for years, as the honey is a preservative. HONEY COLD CREAM. 1 cup of honey; f of a cup of beeswax; 1 cup of cottolene. Melt all, take off the fire, and stir till it is cool ; rose or violet perfume may be added. It should be well protected from the air. The blending should be well done. This is fine for chapped or rough hands, which should be slightly wetted before applying. HONEY-CAKES (Pain d'epice or Lebkuchen). The following recipe will be much appreciated by cake-makers. The cakes are excellent, and will keep indefinitely. If they get dry, simply put them for a few days into a bread-tin. Use 3 Ibs. of honey, 3 Ibs. of flour, 1 oz. powdered ammonia, a small teacupful of ground cinnamon, half-teaspoonful of ground cloves, 6 oz. orange peel (or citron) cut very fine; 4 oz. sweet almonds cut very small. (The ammonia evaporates in baking.) Directions. Pour the honey in a graniteware or copper saucepan, and set on the stove. When it boils, draw it aside and remove the scum (as honey boils and burns very quickly, great care must be used). Then pour the honey into the vessel in which the paste is to be made; leave it to cool; then add flour and other ingredients, except the ammonia which latter must not be added till the flour and honey have been mixed up and the paste has become cold. In preparing for use, place the ammonia in a cup ; pour on a few drops of cold water, and stir it well, so as to form a thick paste, then mix it up with the rest. Then take a piece of the paste, roll it out into a cake not over J inch thick, and cut up into convenient sizes. Put these on a flat tin and bake in a hot oven 12 to 15 minutes. The above is made by the monks of Buckfast Abbey, England. HONEY VINEGAR. The best vinegar produced anywhere is made from honey. Any one who understands how to make cider vinegar can easily make honey vinegar, only substituting water sweetened with honey for the apple juice. BAR-LE-DUC PRESERVES. These preserves are believed to be the finest of their kind, and have hitherto been imported at extravagant prices. Other fruits besides currants may be treated in this way, as honey is of itself a preservative. These preserves do not require to be kept absolutely airtight. Take selected red or white currants of large size, one by one ; carefully make an incision in the skin J of an inch deep with tiny embroidery scissors. Through this slit remove the seeds with the aid of a sharp needle ; remove the seeds separately, preserving the shape of the fruit. Take the weight of the currants in honey, and when this has been heated add the currants. Let it simmer a minute or two, and then seal as for jelly. The currants retain their shape, are of a beautiful color, and melt in the mouth. Care should be exercised not to scorch the honey, then you will have fine preserves. HONEY-PASTE FOR CHAPPED HANDS. An excellent paste for chapped hands is made as follows : The white of one egg, one teaspoon of glycerine, one ounce of honey, and sufficient barley flour to compose a paste. It may not be generally known that honey is a prime ingredient of cosmetics; for its action on the skin is always agreeable. HONEY FOR CLEANING THE HANDS. Honey is an excellent cleanser of the skin, though few are aware of the fact. Try this : Rub a little honey on the dry skin ; moisten a little, and rub again ; use more water, and rub. Wash thoroughly, when it will be found the hands are as clean as the most powerful soap can make them. HONEY TOOTH-PASTE. 8 oz. precipitated chalk, 4 oz. powdered castile soap, 4 oz. orris-root powder, 40 drops oil of sassafras, 80 drops oil of bay, and honey to make a paste. FRENCH HONEY-CANDIES. In an enamelled-ware saucepan melt one part of gelatine in one part of water, stirring well. When arrived at the state of a soft paste, add 4 parts of honey previously warmed, stirring briskly. Take from the fire; add the desired flavor and color, mixing carefully, and pour into a shallow lightly greased dish. Let it dry for a few days. HONEY AS A SOFTENER OF THE HANDS. Rub together 1 Ib. of honey and the yolks of 8 eggs ; gradually add 1 Ib. oil of sweet almond during constant stirring ; work in J Ib. bitter almonds, and perfume with 2 drams each of attar of bergamot and attar of cloves. Of course, the quantities may be reduced if necessary. HONEY FOR FRECKLES. Half a pound of honey, 2 oz. glycerine, 2 oz. alcohol, 6 drams citric acid, 15 drops ambergris. Apply night and morning. HONEY-CHOCOLATE. Chocolate sweetened with honey rather than with sugar is excellent. This is how it is made i Melt 1 Ib. of gelatine in a pint of water; add 10 Ib. of honey, thoroughly warming the same, and then add 4 Ibs. of cocoa. Flavor with vanilla when taken off the fire, and then pour into greased dishes or molds. HONEY BROWN BREAD. One cup corn meal, 1 cup rye meal, 1 cup sour milk, J cup or less of honey, a teaspoonful of salt and a teaspoonful of soda. Steam four hours, and then dry in the oven fifteen minutes. It may be added that most of the molasses now sold is not fit to eat, and in any case honey is much better. It can be seen from the foregoing recipes that honey has a multitude of uses in the home, and its free use as a spread for bread is far preferable for children to much of the cheap candies that they buy. We cannot close this chapter better than by giving the advice of the Scriptures, found in Proverbs xxiv: 13: "Eat honey because it is good." Not only as a food has honey a great value, but in medicine it has a large place, especially in the treatment of colds and diseases of the lungs, and forms a valuable ingredient in many of the excellent cough remedies that are made and sold. The following uses of honey as a medicine are given by permission of the A. I. Root Company : COUGHS, COLDS, WHOOPING COUGH, ETC. Fill a bellmetal kettle with horehound leaves and soft water, letting it boil until the liquor becomes strong then strain through a muslin cloth, adding as much honey as desired then cook it in the same kettle until the water evaporates, when the candy may be poured into shallow vessels and remain until needed, or pulled like molasses candy until white. DR. KNEIPP'S HONEY-SALVE. This is recommended as an excellent dressing for sores and boils. Take equal parts of honey and flour, add a little water and stir it thoroughly. Don't make too thin. HONEY AND CREAM FOR FRECKLES. Have you tried a mixture of honey and cream half and half for freckles ? Well, it's a good thing. If on the hands, wear gloves on going to bed. HONEY CROUP REMEDY This is the best known to the medical profession, and is an infallible remedy in all cases of mucous and spasmodic croup: Raw linseed oil, 2 oz. ; tincture of blood root, 2 drams; tincture of lobelia, 2 drams; tincture of aconite, J dram; honey, four oz. Mix. Dose, J to 1 teaspoonful every 15 to 20 minutes, according to the urgency of the case. It is also excellent in all throat and lung troubles originating from a cold. This is an excellent remedy in lung trouble : Make a strong decoction of horehound herb and sweeten with honey. Take a tablespoonful four or five times a day. HONEY FOR DYSPEPSIA A young man who was troubled with dyspepsia was advised to try honey and graham gems for breakfast. He did so, and commenced to gain, and now enjoys as good health as the average man; and he does not take medicine. Honey is the only food taken into the stomach that leaves no residue; it requires no action of the stomach whatever to digest it, as it is merely absorbed and taken up into the system by the action of the blood. Honey is the natural foe to dyspepsia and indigestion, as well as a food for the human system. HONEY AS A LAXATIVE In olden time the good effects of honey as a remedial agent were well known, but of late little use is made thereof. A great mistake surely. Notably is honey valuable in constipation. Not as an immediate cure, like some medicines which momentarily give relief, only to leave the case worse than ever afterward, but by its persistent daily use, bringing about a healthy condition of the bowels, enabling them properly to perform their functions. Many suffer daily from an irritable condition, believing themselves nervous, not realizing that constipation is at the root of the matter, and that a faithful daily use of honey would restore cheerfulness of mind and health to the body. HONEY FOR OLD PEOPLE'S COUGHS Old people's coughs are as distinct as the coughs of children, and require remedies especially adapted to them. They are known by the constant tickling in the pit of the throat just where the Adam's apple projects and are caused by phlegm that accumulates there, which, owing to their weakened condition, they are unable to expectorate. Take a fair-sized onion a good, strong one and let it simmer in a quart of honey for several hours, after which strain and take a teaspoonful frequently. It eases the cough wonderfully, though it may not cure. HONEY FOR STOMACH COUGH All mothers know that a stomach cough is caused by an irritation of that organ, frequently attended with indigestion. The child often vomits after coughing. Dig down to the roots of a wild cherry tree, and peel off a handful of the bark, put it into a pint of water, and boil down to a teacupful. Put this tea into a quart of honey, and give a teaspoonful every hour or two. It is pleasant, and if the child should also have worms, which often happens, they are pretty apt to be disposed of, as they have no love for the wild-cherry flavor. HONEY AND TAR COUGH CANDY Put a double handful of green horehound into two quarts of water, boil down to one quart ; strain, and add to this tea two cupfuls of extracted honey and a tablespoonful each of lard and tar. Boil down to a candy, but not enough to make it brittle. Begin to eat this, increase from a piece the size of a pea to as much as can be relished. It is an excellent cough candy, and always gives relief in a short time. HONEY AND TAR COUGH CURE Put one tablespoonful liquid tar into a shallow tin dish, and place it in boiling water until the tar is hot. To this add a pint of extracted honey, and stir well for half an hour, adding to it a level teaspoonful pulverized borax. Keep well corked in a bottle. Dose, one teaspoonful every one, two, or three hours, according to severity of cough. Categorie:How to keep bees for profit